May 3rd, 2009 §
I have quite a few skeins of handpainted sock yarn in my stash. I can’t resist the pretty colors, but they don’t always knit up the way you expect. Colors often flash and pool, causing odd patterns. The designers featured in Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarn present 21 creative ways to overcome these problems.
Carol Sulcoski also has a section describing the properties of handpainted yarns, and the special considerations required when choosing patterns, including color value and the length of color repeats.
dkKnits Technicolor Dream Toes
The April theme for the Thrifty Knitters Sock Club was to knit a pair of socks from a book. So I pulled a handpainted skein from my stash, picked a pattern, and cast on. The yarn is dkKnits Technicolor Dream Toes, hand-dyed by an independent dyer on etsy. It was beautiful in the skein, and the pattern shows off the colors very well.
Potpourri socks
I modified the pattern a little, substituting a stockinette round for the double figure eight called for. While I agree with the designer that it’s a great technique for resetting the color repeat, the only pooling I noticed with my modification was when picking up stitches for the gusset, which I can live with.
Pattern detail
I was a little concerned about the picot cuff, having never done one before, but it was surprisingly easy and makes a nice decorative edge
Technical specs:
April 14th, 2009 §
I spent part of my Christmas LYS gift certificate on some Mini Mochi yarn.
Mini Mochi Yarn
It’s a soft, single-ply that I picked for the purple. After digging around on Ravelry, I decided to knit Cookie A’s Monkey Socks. They’re lace, and I’ve never really understood why you would want to put holes in your socks on purpose (not to mention the whole lacy intimidation thing).
Pattern Detail
But the other pairs I had seen looked really pretty, so I thought they were worth a try. And after a couple of false starts gauge swatches, I was on my way. And this pattern? So easy. By the foot of the first sock I had memorized the 11 round repeat, so I could knit my lace socks and watch Angel at the same time.
Pretty (ignore my day-glo legs)
The yarn was a little splitty, because it’s single-ply, but not difficult to work with. And even though it has a little halo, it doesn’t obscure the pattern. I am back to making fraternal socks though. The second ball didn’t have as much of the deep purple as the first. And as I got to the toe (the toe!) of the second sock, I ran into this:
A knot!
See that? In the bottom right corner? A knot. And an abrupt color change, from green to violet. Defeats the whole purpose of the gradient dyeing. Grrr. I cut the yarn, unwound the ball to another green spot, and knit the last two inches of the second sock.
Technical specs:
Overall, these were a great knit. Easy, fast, and a gorgeous FO.
Monkey Socks!
I’ve already added several other Cookie A sock patterns to my Ravelry queue, and her new book, Sock Innovation, is sitting on my desk.
Voting is still open for my next Knitty project – check the sidebar.
–
Special thanks to my guest photographer and dresser, Kaity. The more pregnant I get, the harder it becomes to reach my feet.
September 2nd, 2008 §
This spring, I bought some great hand-dyed superwash merino sock yarn from MonkeyPal, planning to use it for one of the April patterns in the Thrifty Knitters Sock Club on Ravelry. I tried it, but wasn’t happy with the results, so I went in search of a pattern to better fit the yarn.
I did a little more digging and found a stranded pattern that I thought might work. It didn’t, and the names of said patterns have been omitted from this post to protect the innocent. I’ve seen examples of both patterns that looked fantastic, but they just weren’t working with my yarn, and I was concerned that the strands would catch on things and ruin the socks.
Solution? Create my own sock pattern, called Take Two and Call Me in the Morning, in part because I was frustrated that the other patterns hadn’t worked (and could’ve used a couple of aspirin as a result), and also because the stitch pattern I eventually settled on was the Lozenge Pattern from A Treasury of Knitting Patterns by Barbara G. Walker. This stitch pattern is simple, but the combination of knits and purls creates an impressonistic effect, breaking the colors up without leaving strands everywhere.
The Cure for the Complicated Sock Pattern
I’ve written up the pattern, which you can view here, or download the PDF and treat yourself to the cure for the complicated sock.
August 24th, 2008 §
I finished my Highland Reel socks today, just 12 days after our return from Scotland. I’d been saving this yarn (Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock in the Scottish Highlands colorway) since Mother’s Day (because my husband is wonderful and buys me yarn for special occasions).
Scottish Highlands STR
I started the first sock on the plane to Newark, and didn’t pick it up again until the flight out of Edinburgh. Too many interesting things to see and do while I was actually on vacation to knit. I finished the first sock while sitting in the Houston airport (I think, those were a rough couple of days), and started the second one a few days after our return home, making this the fastest pair of socks I’ve knit to date.
» Read the rest of this entry «
June 20th, 2008 §
Technical specs:
- Yarn: Bluefaced Leicester 4 ply sock yarn hand dyed in midnight blue (gift from my Spring swap partner)
- Needles: Size 1 47″ circular (also from swap partner)
- Pattern: Hedgerow Socks by Jane Cochran
- New skills:
- Magic Loop! Scroll down for video – using one long circular needle, instead of 3 or more DPNs.
- In pattern Heel – the pattern carries down the heel flap,very classy.
- Rounded toe – just like decreasing for the top of the hat, plus, no Kitchener (for those who don’t like it).
Since I was learning a new technique, I chose a simpler sock pattern, basically a ribbed sock with some seed stitch detail. They turned out beautifully, and I think they’re probably my favorite of the socks I’ve knit so far this year. Magic Loop was very easy to learn, and it was nice to not have all those needles to deal with while trying to knit socks.
The pattern itself is gorgeous; I love seed stitch, but all those purls slow you way down. The end result is beautiful, however.
